


Come Monday Morning

by juem87



Series: Picking Up the Pieces [10]
Category: Twisted (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-14
Updated: 2013-09-14
Packaged: 2017-12-26 14:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/966978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juem87/pseuds/juem87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lacey tells Danny about her conversation with her mother, and she and Sarita see Chief Masterson to turn in the evidence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Monday Morning

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not 100% about this story (or 80% really). It's more of a bridge to get us where we're going.

Lacey knocks on the front door of the Desai residence, rocking on her heels, as she impatiently waits for either Karen or Danny to answer the door. She doesn't have much time, having been sent to the store by her mother to buy ice cream and nail polish remover for their spontaneous girls' day in that transpired once Clara had gotten home from her sleepover. Judy, still reeling from her eldest daughter's confession, had suggested the day as a means to reconnect with her children, hoping to make this the first of many bonding sessions to come.

"Lacey," Danny smiles as he opens the door, immediately taking her hand to pull her into the house. Once closed, he backs her into the doorway, pressing his body to hers and bestowing a much needed kiss on her lips. "I've been thinking about you," he says once their lips separate, his forehead leaning against hers as he looks deeply into her eyes.

She smiles, palms flat against his chest. "I've been thinking about you, too."

He leans in for another kiss, which she allows for a time before gently pulling away. "I can't stay long. My mom and Clara are waiting for me at home." She plays with the collar of his t-shirt, remaining in place despite her words.

"That's too bad since my mother isn't home." He leans in again, kissing the side of her neck then trailing his nose against the sensitive skin, inhaling her scent.

Lacey sighs softly, turning her head to give him more room before straightening up, remembering why she came to his house in the first place. She had wanted to tell him about her conversation with Judy, unable to resist stopping by on her way home from the store. "Danny, I told my mom about us," she says, pushing him back gently to see his face.

There's concern in his eyes when he asks, "How did she take it? Am I going to have to worry about her stealing you away in the middle of the night?" He smiles softly, rubbing his hands up and down her sides, trying to keep the mood light in case the news is bad.

Lacey rolls her eyes lightly at his attempt at humor. "No, she's not happy we're dating, but she said she won't do anything to keep us apart." Lacey looks down at her hands on his chest for a moment before lifting her eyes to meet his again, "The talk was nice actually. I mean it got really intense at some parts, but I haven't felt that close to her in a longtime."

Danny nods his head, smiling as he cards his fingers through the front of her hair, drawing the few loose strands behind her ear. "I'm glad." He feels relieved that her mother knows the truth. Maybe now he can go over to her house when the woman is home, instead of only sneaking in and out, behind her back, like a thief in the night.

"She wants to have you over for dinner. She also said something about you guys becoming reacquainted. Be ready. I think she's going to have her claws out. I haven't see her quite this fierce since her last argument with my dad."

Danny swallows, a slightly panicked expression coming to his face. He can handle his classmates and the townspeople hating him, but this is his girlfriend's mother. He and the woman have to learn to coexist so they both can both peacefully remain in Lacey's life.

Smiling in reassurance, Lacey moves her hands from his chest to wrap her arms around his neck, "Don't worry. I'll protect you from her if she gets to be too much."

Danny's face relaxes as he leans forward, rubbing his nose against hers, "You better." He captures her lips in another kiss, settling more firmly against her body.

They kiss for a time, slow and unhurried, enjoying the feel of the other's lips until they're interrupted by the buzzing of Lacey's cell phone.

She pulls back, disappointed that she has to leave, "It's probably my mom wondering what's taking me so long." She untangles her arms from his neck, and straightens her sweater.  Danny takes a step back, allowing her room to gather her purse, which had fallen to the floor, forgotten, upon her entrance into the house.

"Call me later," she says, taking his hand in her own, intertwining their friends.

"Of course," he kisses her again, tangling his free hand in her hair briefly before leading her out the door.

With a final glance back at him, Lacey heads home, ready and happy to spend the rest of the day with her mother and sister. She's looking forward to the family bonding, having missed the time they use to spend together before the divorce when her mother's every attention wasn't paid to her failing marriage. It had hurt Lacey more than she cared to admit when their movie nights, shopping trips and evening conversations had been replaced by loud shouting matches and appointments with lawyers. Unknowingly mirror her mother's thoughts, Lacey hopes the day's events become a regular occurrence. She knows Clara, too, has missed their mother.

In the back of her mind, threatening to damper her good mood is the fear of the following day. It's Monday, the day her and Sarita are to turn the evidence over to Chief Masterson. Lacey is certain in her decision, but as always her mind drifts to Regina's family, her mother in particular. The woman is having a difficult enough time grieving the loss of her daughter. This piece of evidence, hinting at the girl's less than innocent activities, may push her over the edge.

There is also the matter of Phoebe and Jana. Lacey hasn't spoken to either of the girls since their impromptu departure from her sleepover. She trusts Sarita in her ability to handle the situation, as the petite girl so put it, but is still worried, unsure what to expect come Monday morning at school.

Pulling into the driveway of her home, she pushes the negative thoughts from her mind, instead choosing to focus on her family.

\---

As planned, Lacey and Sarita meet outside the police station Monday morning. They both stand in front of the building, staring up at its brick exterior for a moment before glancing at one another, each taking a deep breath. Lacey has the envelope clenched tightly in her hand in an almost painful manner.

Noting her tension, Sarita places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You have to relax, Lace. It's going to be okay."

"I'm fine." Lacey breaths, forcing a small smile on her face while turning to look back in the direction of the building. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Sarita replies, allowing Lacey to maintain her cool facade. They're both far from fine, grieving for their best friend and now further tarnishing her already spotted reputation with a piece of evidence that may be key in finding her murderer. It's difficult enough without trying to delve into the other's true feelings and now isn't the time. Later when they're alone they can continue their remembrance of Regina.

They walk into the building, Lacey leading the way, through the doors and to the front desk.

"We'd like to speech with Chief Masterson. It's about the Regina Crane investigation," she tells the officer seated behind the desk. It's early in the morning and the man clearly isn't fully awake. A mug full of steaming coffee sits in front of him and he has dark circles underneath each barely opened eye.

"I got it, Eddie," Kyle Masterson says, walking into the room, having just arrived for work. "Ladies good morning, you can follow me to my office." He raises his arm before leading the way, ushering them inside. They each take a seat as he shreds his jacket, places his bag behind his desk, and takes a seat, intertwining his fingers on the desk. "What can I do for you?"

Lacey and Sarita share a meaningful look, both tense in their seats. Turning back towards Kyle, Lacey lifts her hand to place the envelope on the desk in his line of sight. They remain silent, all three staring at the enclosed letter.

"What's this?" Kyle probes once it's apparent that neither of the girls is going to elaborate.

"It's a note that was sent to Regina. Lacey found it when she was helping Mrs. Crane go through all of the condolence letters she'd received after Regina's funeral," Sarita speaks up, taking some of the pressure off of Lacey.

"It's postmarked for two days before she died," Lacey cuts in. "Open it." She urges him.

Narrowing his eyes at her in suspicion, Kyle opens the envelope, emptying its contents out on the desk before picking up the folded sheet of paper. He reads it over quickly, leaning back in his chair. The hundred dollar bills are scattered across the desktop. Kyle rereads the note slowly before returning his gaze to the teens seated in front of him.

"Who else knows about this?" he asks, placing the paper back down.

"No one but us," Lacey lies easily, following through with her plan to keep Danny's knowledge of the letter secret. Sarita nods her head in agreement, backing her friend up without a second thought.

"How long have you had it?" Kyle wants to gather as much information from them as possible to determine the validity of the letter. His investigation is falling by the wayside, his only suspect for the crime not so easily being caught. This evidence, possibility clearing Danny Desai's name, would bring him back to square one and undoubtedly leave the town at greater unrest.  

"I've had it for a couple of week," Lacey responses, looking down at her hands folded on her lap.

Kyle sits up straight in his seat, "You've had this for weeks! Why didn't you turn it in to us sooner?" He's astonished at the nerve of the teen, unable to imagine why she would do such as thing.

"Do you think this is easy for us?" Sarita asks, defending Lacey. "Our friend was murdered, and then Lacey found this threatening letter. She was scared. We both were and are. What if someone finds out that we handed it over to the police? You guys aren't exactly doing a great job of finding the murderer now are you?" Sarita tilts her head, raising her eyebrows before continuing, "And what about Regina's family? This could be devastating for-"

"Fine," Kyle says, cutting off the teenager. He wants to snap at her, point out that if they had turned in the evidence earlier than maybe the killer would already be behind bars. Instead he bites his tongue, realizing that he is the adult in this situation. "We'll look into where the letter came from. Don't tell anyone about it, and make sure to be available if we have any more questions."

With that the girls are dismissed from his office. He watches as they gather their things to leave, staring briefly in his direction before looking at each other and walking out the door. Once they're out of sight, Kyle throws himself back in his seat, sighing loudly. While he's thankful to have another piece of evidence, it stresses him greatly that it leads him away from his only suspect.

He had thought for sure he had caught the boy when they found Tara Desai's necklace in the pond at McNally Park, but his mother's lawyer had easily dismissed their findings, emphasizing that the police had also found three other necklaces and a ring in their search. There was no way to prove that it had been Tara's necklace that Karen had thrown into the pond. This left the detectives at yet another dead end.

With this latest development, the case is turning into something more complicated than any of them could have imagined.

\---

Lacey and Sarita meet again at the entrance of Green Grove High, having driven separate vehicles to and from the police station.

"Well, that was kind of horrible," Lacey says by way of greeting, coming beside the girl as they walk into the building.

"Yes, but it could have been worse.” Sarita stops in the hallway, turning toward Lacey, arms crossed on her chest. “Why did you lie to Chief Masterson about Danny knowing about the letter?"

Lacey sighs, turning to face the shorter girl, "I was worried he would think that Danny tampered with the evidence." She looks around the hallway discretely, ensuring that there is no one around to eavesdrop on their conversation. "You know how everyone is pressuring him to arrest Danny. They don't care whether or not he really did it. They just want him in prison. If Chief Masterson feels the same way then he would find any excuse to dismiss that letter.”

Sarita nods her head, understanding Lacey’s rationale. "Next time, at least give me a heads up.” She continues down the hallway toward her locker. “You better hope Jo keeps her mouth shut about it." She smirks hinting at one of the girl’s many character flaws. Sarita has witnessed Jo’s blabber mouth and social incompetence enough times to know what a problem it’ll be.

Lacey rolls her eyes, looking upwards as she follows Sarita. "Yeah, I'm going to have to talk to her." They haven't spoken since that morning at Johnny Cakes when she and Danny told Jo and Rico about their relationship. Jo was avoiding her, supposedly nursing a broken heart, and Lacey was more than happy to follow her lead in cutting off all communication. At this rate, Danny would never achieve his goal of reuniting the trio.

“Sucks for you,” Sarita laughs as she reaches her locker and quickly opens the door. They don’t have much time until their first period class, and they still need to make another stop.

Lacey smiles as she chuckles under her breath, “She’s not that bad… most of the time.”

“Wow that sounds really convincing! I hope that’s the way you talk about me to other people,” Sarita says pausing in her activities to shoot Lacey an amused look.

“Rita, you know I could never say anything bad about you.” Lacey nudges the girl’s shoulder before turning to lean back against the adjacent locker, broad smile on her face.

Sarita wrinkles her nose at the much hated nickname and slams her locker door shut, throwing her bag over one shoulder. They continue down the hallway stopping at Lacey’s locker, where the taller girl repeats the process, filling her bag with what she needs as they make small talk. It doesn’t take long, and soon they’re on their way to class.

Neither of them sees Phoebe or Jana until they reach the classroom door. The four girls stop, fixed in place, divided by the doorway. Lacey glances nervously between Phoebe and Jana while Sarita glares, arms coming across her chest. Phoebe avoids eye contact, looking everywhere but at the girls standing in front of her, while Jana stares down at her cell phone clenched tightly in her hand. For once her fingers are still on the device.

The silence extends for a moment, until Jana lifts her head. “So… you’re dating Danny Desai. That’s great!” she says awkwardly before making a pained face at her inept statement.

“Jana,” Sarita warns at the same time Phoebe says, “Oh yeah, it’s real great that she’s dating the person that murdered Regina!”

Three sets of eyes turn to settle on Phoebe: one set in shock, another in hurt and the last in anger.

“He didn’t kill Regina.” Lacey narrows her eyes at Phoebe to hide the hurt her words have caused. “We found evidence that points to someone else being Regina’s murderer.”

“Yeah, Sarita told us that the other day.” Jana directs her attention back to Lacey, curiosity clear on her face. “She didn’t say what it was though.”

“That’s because you don’t need to know what it is,” Sarita interrupts, eyes still glaring in Phoebe’s direction. She turns to direct her heated gaze at Jana before continuing. “All you need to know is that we turned it into the police, and they’re going to use it to find out who really killed Regina.”

“What?” Phoebe exclaims, again drawing the attention of the three girls around her. Her eyes are wide and body stiff as the impact of Sarita’s words hit her.

Before any of the girls can comment, they’re interrupted by the presence of their teacher. “Do you ladies want to continue this conversation and have detention after school, or will you be joining the rest of the class?” he asks exasperated with the teenagers around him.

The girls begin to enter the classroom, but are further surprised by Phoebe’s behavior when, instead of following them into the room, she storms down the hallway, leaving the building for the teacher to see. He simply rolls his eyes before ushering the three remaining girls into the room to begin class.

\---

It’s her last class before lunch and Lacey is heading toward the student lounge to spend her free period catching up on homework. The bell signaling the beginning of the next class has already rung as she makes her way down the hall. She’s lost in her own thoughts, head down, when suddenly she feels a tug at her arm. Startled she turns quickly, pulling her arm back as her body tenses. A smile comes to her face and her shoulders relax, when she sees that it’s Danny. Allowing him to take her hand, she follows him to a more secluded area, a shadowed corner a the nearby stairwell.

“Hey,” she says, kissing him, smile intensifying as their lips part.

“Hi,” he smiles back, wrapping his arms around her in a hug before bringing his hands up to cradle her face. He looks down at her intently. “You and Sarita went to see Chief Masterson this morning?” The question is serious though his body language and eyes hint at the other things he’d rather be doing.

Lacey's face falls, disappointed at their topic of conversation. “Yeah, we gave him the note and money. He said they’d look into it.” Removing his hands from her face, she intertwines them with her own, looking down at their joined hands. “You have to tell Jo not to talk to her father about the evidence. We told Chief Masterson that only Sarita and I know about it.” She lifts her head to look at him, weariness in her expression.

“Okay, I’ll do that,” he replies gently. He and Jo have had a few sporadic conversations over the past few days. It’s nothing like it use to be, but it’s an improvement from when she was ignoring his existence.

“Danny, I think we need to let the police handle the investigation. I don’t want to look for any more clues or try to find out anything else about that note. We have to let the police do their job, and try our best to move on from this.” Her eyes search his, praying that he’ll agree with her.

“Yeah, me too,” Danny grips her hands tightly in reassurance. “I want to focus on us.” It’s all he ever wanted to do since his return to Green Grove, that and reestablish his friendship with Jo. It angers him that being a suspect in Regina’s murder almost ruined his chances of doing just that.

“Good.” Lacey pulls him closer, reaching behind her back to wrap his arms around her body. Taking the hint, he releases her hands to slide his own around her waist up before settling against her. He leans in for another kiss, which quickly becomes passionate as the teens begin to explore one another.

They slowly move apart, not wanting to get too carried away in the open area.

“How are things with your friends?” Danny says, finally asking the other question, the curiosity from which had been plaguing his mind. He’d seen her with Sarita in the hallway that morning and knew everything was alright between them, but he’d been worried about the reactions of her other two friends.

“Jana is coming around. At first things were awkward, but they’re starting to be okay. She just needs time to stop thinking of you as Regina’s murderer… I don’t know what’s going on with Phoebe. The last time I saw her was before first period. She stormed off after Sarita told her that we had been to see Chief Masterson. It was weird.” Lacey shakes her head gently and shrugs her shoulders, confused by the girl’s reaction.

“Well, Phoebe is kind of over-the-top. She probably just wants attention or something, so she’s regressing back to the way she acted right after Regina’s funeral.” Danny shrugs as well. He never understood the girl’s ridiculous personality, choosing to ignore her dramatics.

“God I hope not. The last thing I need is to sit through another grief counseling session, or hear about how I’m disrespecting Regina’s memory by being with you.” Lacey rolls her eyes, bringing her arms more tightly around his shoulders.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” he says leaning his forehead against hers, a show of comfort and solidarity.

Lacey sighs, “Yeah,” she closes her eyes briefly, further relaxing into his embrace. “Hey, shouldn’t you be in class?” She straightens up suddenly, staring at him, a stern expression gracing her features.

He turns his head, faking a cough complete with sniffles and a small pout. “I’m sick. Can’t you tell?” He levels a wide-eyed gaze at her, increasing the pout on his lips.

Lacey laughs, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. “You’re so full of it. What teacher fell for that?” She’ll never let him know the power his wide-eyed pout has over her, causing her insides to quiver and compelling her to give him whatever he desires.

“But I am sick, Lacey,” he says seriously, again looking intently into her eyes. “Lovesick,” he exclaims, trying to keep his voice quiet, as he tickles her around her waist, lifting her from the ground slightly.

Lacey screeches, laughing aloud as she struggles in his arms. “Stop… someone will… hear us,” she forces out in between her fits of laughter.

“You right, Lace. You’re being too loud,” he whispers stilling his hands on her body and drawing her closer to him. “Shhhhh,” he raises a finger to his mouth, making the sound.

Lacey glares, trying to contain her smile as she feels him crowd her into the wall behind them. “I’ll show you quiet,” she responds before launching her own tickle attack, taking him by surprise. They continue their game, teasing each other and laughing, being as quiet as they can to avoid attention, until the lunch bell rings and they reluctantly part, returning to their, for now, separate school lives.

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first time really playing around with multiple scenes in a story. Let me know how I did.


End file.
